The Prodigal Sin'dorei
by Fullelven
Summary: A little story about my original character Illivandar Ravenscar. Its a recount of his last conscious night as the man he was when he returned from Outland.


**Title: The Prodigal Sin'dorei**

**Author: FullElven Alchemist**

**Summary: Illivandar's last night as Jeremiah Ravenscar.**

Staring upon the broken "haven" the Kirin'Tor had picked to move a settlement to, Jeremiah Ravenscar shook his head and pondered just why he had made up his mind to return. Sure, the haggard terrain of Netherstorm was barren and sparse in comparison to the forests of Trisifal Glade, but the sky, the very power the land harnessed was something in its own. Yet here he stood, a member of the Council and a trusted founder of the settlement of Kirin'Var, in Ambermill for the promises of a _dormant _ley line.

Jeremiah scoffed and brought a hand to rub that midnight soul patch on his chin, narrowing his eyes and absentmindedly exchanging his pack from one shoulder to the other. He knew why he returned, the reason he no longer resided with his brethren in Outland. His bright emerald eyes could almost see it again; the brilliant flash of blue, a feeling as if he'd almost gone temporarily deaf from the pure arcane that burst forth, the sensation of being knocked on his back and the wind expelling from his lungs...

He gasped, bringing that hand from his chin to his chest, just above his heart where a ghost wound throbbed and grew painfully warm with the memory. No, he promised himself that he wouldn't dwell on it, he was home now and whatever had gone on in Outland stayed in Outland. Besides, with the recent increase of Worgen attacks, the Kirin'Tor here could use his help to heal the injured while they tried to figure out a way to reawaken the ley line and use it to further strengthen the shield around Dalaran.

The leather soles from his torn cloth boots made no sound against the cobblestone pavement as he made his way further into the settlement, glancing at the Wizards as he passed but never meeting their eyes. Most gave him little more than a slight look, other adverted their gaze completely. There were new ones among their ranks, soldiers trained with little magic more than to summon a weak beast to assist them in battle.

_Parlor tricks..._ He murmured within his own mind, shaking his head with disapproval. Things were far worse than he had originally thought.

"Ravenscar!"

The name cause him to break his stride, and with little time to look for the one who beckoned to him, he felt a tiny hand wrap around his wrist and pull him off into the alley just next to the lumber mill. The smaller being pushed him further into the shadow that fell between the building and the residential home beside it, pressing its feminine form back against him to keep him from moving forward. Of course, he and the figure both knew he could easily move them if he wanted to, but for the sake of curiosity he remained steadfast and silent.

A long moment passed where he could feel her pounding heart through her back on his stomach and he smiled. Though very little moonlight found its way into their hiding space, he could still pick up the glints of silver in her albino locks that framed her small heart-shaped face. Other than a few new freckles and a piercing in the tip of her short pointed ears, the young priestess hadn't changed a bit in his year he spent away. "Bae'tani -"

"Shh!" She demanded in a forceful whisper just in time for a group of robed magicians to pass by them. Jeremiah recognized them easily, the very Council who'd sent him to Outland. For the biggest part, they were human and that very mortality was beginning to show on them. Stress caused lines on their faces, their lips seemed weighed down in a permanent frown. Their burdens had aged them, and from what he could guess, the cross was a great one to bear. Even the lone elf Magistrix of the group had grown haggard looking, a dire look in her eyes.

Bae'tani slowed her breathing, closing her grey-blue eyes for a moment as she silently wished them passed, not opening them again until she was swiftly spinning on her heel to poke a slender finger into the Sin'dorei's chest. "What in the name of the Child King are you doing here Jeremiah Ravenscar!? Have you lost your mind?"

"I..." He opened his mouth for a moment, having not expected the half-elf to unload on him as such upon seeing him again. Though, for what he had in him, the sly smile he had lost in his surprise returned and he shrugged. "Well, for one, I hungered more for your lips than I had the addiction that plagues us."

She shoved her finger in his chest again, hard enough to hurt himself and he stumbled back again. "This is not a joke, Miah!" By the sound of the air she expelled from her chest, he could tell she was upset, even before the gruff way she grabbed his wrist again and led him through the buildings and out into the back fields.

They looked empty, just the short stocked from the freshly harvested ears of corn left remaining in the large dirt acre. As soon as they were a good distance away from the main road, she released him and let her back rest against the wall that stood around the town hall. "Remove your robe."

The request was plain and simple, yet he couldn't help but to chuckle. "If you wanted to welcome me home, do you not think we could find a place a little warmer than an autumn night?" He questioned, wrapping his long arms around her lithe waist. Bae'tani ducked down and moved away from him, and as he caught her eyes he saw the look in them was as dire as the one on the other members of the Council.

"Please, for once in your life, could you act as if your life depends on the outcome of your choices? Take off the robe and let me see your chest."

Jeremiah nodded slowly, letting his calloused fingers fall to the buckle of his belt. However, a thought crossed his mind and he stopped short and merely let his arms fall to his sides. She wasn't telling him something, and as he let his mind wander to caress her own, his fears were confirmed.

"You saw..."

Tears began to well in the young half-elf priestess's eyes and she looked away from him, at first out at the field before letting her depths come to the pearly light of the moon itself. "You... have the scar don't you? Metal from an explosion... cutting your chest," she spoke slowly, as if saying the words any faster would make this nightmare more of a reality.

"Bae'tani, I did not have -"

"You lacked a choice, it was your Sun King's fault, is that was is going to say? Prince Kael'thas made you murder them." Her lip quivered as she spoke, letting her pain ridden eyes come back to his. The look there caused him to take a step back.

"He is _your_ king as well, Bae."

"No king of mine would order his followers to _kill_ those who taught them!" She cried louder than she had meant to and once again tried to force her voice back to a harsh whisper. "Your own parents, Ravenscar! Lani and Thraelous gave you life! And yet you..." Bae'tani found her voice failing her as her knees grew weak, seeing the violent scene once again as she had in her vision.

"He would have killed me, is that what you want? For our love to have died with me in an unmarked grave in Netherstorm? Our future lost for one little disagreement?" He shifted on his feet, uncomfortable as he watched her kneeling on the ground.

"I would have been proud to say my love died a hero, trying to stop a travesty rather than spending the rest of my life with a murderer."

Her words pierced him deeper than he knew she intended, having spoken the word he had been dodging in his own mind since he'd fled Netherstorm. _Murderer._ The color drained from his flesh and he backed up further, turning his back to her. Was that what he was? A "murderer?" He had followed the Kirin'Tor out there to start a village, yes. But this was Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider, the man was _his_ king...

In a battle of loyalties, who do you choose? Your King or your friends?

_Easy, which has strayed from the path to force you into making such a choice? _

He jumped at the voice in his head. It had not been Bae'tani which left him with...

"Sareth," he spoke simply to his lover's mother, turning to bow deeply. The human female was younger than he, the fact alone causing her disapproval of his relationship with her daughter.

"The traitor returns, perhaps you are more foolish than I had first pegged you to be, young Ravenscar," she spoke in a clipped tone, stepping in a circle around him so that she put him between her and her daughter.

"The council knows then?" His lame reply came, voice lacking all sense of hope.

"They know, but not yet are aware that you have returned. In fact, they believe you to still be there with your power-crazed prince," she informed offhanded as if it had little matter to her. "Had my daughter not found you sooner and soothed the minds of the council as they passed, trust me, your head would cease to reside on your shoulders."

"Mother..." Bae'tani's voice was soft as she stepped beside him, her fingers finding his and entwining their fingers. He looked down confused at her, catching just a hint of the words she was mouthing to her elder.

_Hurry..._

"As you wish..." Her azure pools found the Sin'dorei's glowing depths and though shorter than he as she was, he had the distinct feeling that she was still staring down her nose at him. "Fate shined on your side, Ravenscar. Be glad that it was me that Bae'tani shared her premonition with and not one of the others, for empathy has never been the Council's strong suit." Sareth Sorrowsong turned from him, stopping just beside her daughter on her way past. "Be swift, you'll not get another chance."

"I... don't understand. Where is she going?" Jeremiah's head swam with questions as he watched the Elder Sorrowsong vanish into the night, leaving her and Bae'tani alone in the light of the Harvest moon.

"To alert the Council that you're here..." Tears still resided in her voice as she spoke, causing her tone to be stressed to even her own ears.

"What! But... with all that talk of fate and empathy I thought -"

"Shh..." Once again she silenced him, placing a finger to his lips before standing on tiptoe to let her own replace it. Bewildered, he took a moment before he returned her kiss, the sadness in it bringing tears to his own eyes that fell to her cheeks to mingle with hers before finishing their fall. His body trembled softly, as if just awakening to just how cold the night was.

A numbness entered his body as they stood there, beginning at the crown of his head and slowly creeping throughout the rest of his body. Slowly, he felt himself begin to relax in her embrace, losing himself in the warmth of their kiss.

Gently, a presence eased its way into his mind making him think of a gentle spring breeze rustling through the newly grown leaves. He reached out with his own mind to caress it, almost as if a purely mental cuddle. _I know you hadn't meant... for this. I'm sorry..._

For a moment, he felt confused, wondering why she was apologizing, but that soothing feeling that emanated from her quelled any bit of worry that was within in. _You didn't make me do it... _

A subtle fog rolled into his subconscious and he nearly felt light-headed. Thought processes slowed to the point of nearly stopping, but with it his breathing as well. His emotions ceased, his doubts, his guilt... it all one by one slipped away with the cloudiness that encompassed every fiber of his mind. _Jeremiah... _

He opened his eyes, or he thought he did... there was only darkness. Again, he didn't panic, feeling safe within that unknown void. The soft voice brought a smile to his lips and he sighed at the angel. _Jeremiah?_

It was getting harder to hold onto the warmth he felt when she spoke. In fact, it was beginning to become nearly impossible for him to hold on to much of anything. He began to fight it then, the sensation going from calming to alarming in almost an instant. He had no sense of surroundings, of self... he was drowning.

_Calm down... she'll find you. Only remember that I love you... Illivandar._

"**Wait!"**

Illivandar gripped his head as a blinding pain flashed through it, as his body fell to the ground with a relentless thud. Something warm slid down his upper lip, a copper taste sliding down his throat as he turned onto his back. Frantically he tried to grip at the vision that had plagued him so many times in nightmares, but found that he was too late. Once again, he was left with a pounding in his head and a infuriating sense of deja vu.

Each time, they grew a little more elaborate, a little harder to just let go... a little more painful with the aftershocks. Blinking his eyes, he stared up at the sapphire sky, his blurred vision barely depicting the two ravens making their way through it. He didn't need a doctor nor a lifetime of being a priest to know, the visions were killing him. Whatever it was trying to awake in his head, it was destroying him from the inside...

Part of him wished it would just hurry up and finish, the pain was beginning to become a bit too much to live with.

Wiping the blood from his face, he sat up slowly and grabbed a bit of linen cloth from his pack to soak up the rest that fell. Luckily his attack had ceased him just within sight of Tarren Mill. "Are you hurt priest?"

The deep, slow speech startled him for a moment before he noticed the female Tauren staring at him. How he hadn't noticed that she had blocked out his sun was beyond him. As he made his way to his feet, he could only push her out of his way, eliciting a growl from her pet Coyote.

"I don't need help from the likes of you, Tauren. I am beyond your expertise, even if you did understand the workings of the mind," he grumbled, his gaze falling to the hunter's pet and locking eyes with it. For a moment, he thought the ruse of his Mind Soothe had worked. However, another snarl from the beast proved that it only stood down because its master willed it.

"Could I find you someone who could assist you?" She questioned as she watched him sluggishly make his way past her toward the path. He stopped in his tracks, smiling a coy smirk to himself as he scoffed.

"Not unless you know where to find her."

"Her?" The Huntress took one step toward him, cocking her head slightly as the breeze moved the braids in her mane. For as long as she lived, she was sure that she would never find another species as strange and confusing as the Blood Elves.

Illivandar tipped his head back, feeling the Spring wind moving his dark locks. "Yes, _her._ The one who loves me." And with that said, he continued his trek up the path. Quite honestly, he didn't know what he was talking about either. But... to as he continued to think about it, the more it seemed to comfort him.

_She loved me..._

Sure, it was long from what he wished he could have retained from the painful visions, but for now, he knew that this would suffice.


End file.
